Utah vacation

We're finally getting back into the swing of things since getting back from vacation. My long to-do list is shrinking. After being gone for 8 days, it was a bit daunting to come back to piles of laundry and mail, not to mention my work at the office. When we drove in the driveway, our yard looked like a jungle and the bushes had become quite bushy. There is still lots to do, but we're making progress.

We left for vacation on Monday, May 2, taking pretty much all day to fly from Philadelphia to Las Vegas, then drive the rental car to our first national park at Springdale, Utah. It was dark when we got to our hotel, but in the morning when we looked out our window, this is the scene that greeted us:
This is Zion National Park. No one is allowed to drive in the park because of pollution and for ecological reasons, but shuttle buses are available at the Visitor Center and they run quite frequently. So we took a bus up into the canyon that follows the Virgin River. There are lots of stops along the way and we got out at one that looked interesting, but it was very cold and windy, so we decided to leave, do something else and come back in the afternoon.

We drove up to the northern end of Zion to the Kolob Canyons. There was a trail there that we found, hiked in about 1/2 mile, then back out. It was at 6,080 feet in elevation so we were gasping for breath. We're not used to that kind of hiking, being from NJ where we always hike on even ground at sea level!

By now it was warming up so we drove back down to our motel, rested a bit, then resumed our exploring back on the shuttle bus. The scenery is amazing with high canyon walls on either side of the Virgin River. The cliffs and rock formations are quite awe inspiring with such names as: The Towers of the Virgin, Altar of Sacrifice, Court of the Patriarchs, The Great White Throne, Angels Landing.

We stopped at 2 places to hike: The Grotto - a 2 mile hike on the Emerald Pools Trail and The Temple of Sinawava, another 2 mile hike along the river. The Emerald Pools Hike was somewhat strenuous, especially since it was up and down. The hike later along the river was easier and more level because it followed the river. It was also easier because it was paved (handicap accessible).

Pictures of Zion National Park

Wherever there's water, Andy has to test the temperature. And this time, he had a good excuse because of his sore foot. He said it was freezing. I took his word for it.
After our breakfast on Wednesday morning, we drove on out to Bryce Canyon National Park. The whole trip was scenic with red rock formations and sandstone rocks.

Pictures along the way:

We got to Bryce Canyon fairly early, then spent the day driving to all the interesting points in the park. We'd get out at each scenic overlook, take pictures and do a little hiking. We didn't really do any long hikes this day - we were a little stiff and sore from the day before.

At Zion the cliffs and rocks were enormous as we looked up at them from the canyon floor. At Bryce we were up on a plateau looking down on the rock formations in the canyon. Being so high made it difficult to do anything very strenuous. Most of the places we stopped to look were well over 8,000 feet in elevation and the highest was 9,115 feet! It was hard to catch enough breath and our bodies felt like lead!

The weather was cool. We saw quite a bit of snow in the highest places, but the roads and trails were all clear.

Pictures of Bryce National Park:

On Thursday, we drove scenic route 12 east from Bryce Canyon to Torrey, Utah, making some stops along the way. One of those was at Mossy Cave and waterfall. It was a fairly easy hike along red rocks and pines that led to a cave and waterfall. One hundred years ago, men had dug twelve miles (all by hand) to allow water to provide for the town of Tropic, Utah.The other place we stopped was at the Kodachrome Basin State Park. We had to take a dirt road back to see Chimney Rock, then another dirt road to a hiking trail. That trail was a very nice hike - 1.7 miles - that looped, going by Shakespeare Arch, a large natural arch. This trail also gave "magnificent views of the Grand Staircase - Esacalante National Monument, which surrounds the park." (from the park literature)My calves were really sore from all the hiking we'd done in the last several days, but it was good to get out and get the exercise. The weather was so nice: the sky was brilliantly blue, the air was cool and the sun was warm.

On the way to our hotel, the road wound around rock formations of all colors, ascended high mountains and descended again. At the top of one mountain, a sign said we were at 9,000 feet. The vistas from up there were so gorgeous. There was still quite a bit of snow in spots. Some of the descents had signs saying it was a 10% down grade!

After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park. On the way we stopped at a hike called Hickman's Bridge. The sign said 1.7 miles one way, so we did it. It was a moderate hike with ups and downs that took us past incredible rock formations, enormous cliffs and finally ended at a huge arch.
It was good hiking weather, nice and cool. After that hike, we stopped to observe some petroglyphs, drawings on cliffs made many years ago by primitive people. Andy and I were speculating that they were probably made by teens doing graffiti!The colors on the cliffs are so amazing with lots of red, layers of white, and also gray green rocks. On our way out of the park, we saw a sign for Chimney Rock (a different one from the one in Escalante park), so we decided to check it out. You had to hike out to the rock, and a sign said it was a 3 1/2 mile loop. We decided to go for it. The first mile was very strenuous, mostly uphill. We were huffing and puffing in the rarified air, especially me. I hadn't been able to sleep much the previous two nights, so my legs were so leaden on the ascents. It was a great hike, though, especially on the top of a plateau that we reached. The view from up there was awesome! Well, it was a great feeling of accomplishment to finally make it. Whew!Saturday was another beautiful day for our visit to Arches National Park. It was the hottest day of our week, getting up to around 90 degrees. I'd prefer not to hike when it's so hot, but there was a breeze going most of the time, so it wasn't too bad. We drove all the roads in the park and stopped at nearly all the overlooks. Again, the landscape was so interesting. We saw rock formations that looked like a sheep at the top, 3 gossips, a courthouse, tower of Babel, etc. We hiked at several spots: Balanced Rock (.3 miles), The Windows, (1 mile, plus an alternate return which made it longer), Sand Dune Arch (.3 mile), Delicate Arch, upper and lower viewpoints (100 yards + .5 miles), and Skyline Arch (.2 mile). Each hike resulted in observations of arches formed in the rocks. Altogether we hiked about 1 1/2 miles.

The 3 Gossips

The Windows

We stayed in Green River, Utah on Saturday and Sunday nights, using that as our base to see Arches & Canyonlands national parks. The drive from Green River to the parks is quite desolate and parts of it look like a lunar landscape. The amazing thing is that there are actually cattle out there grazing. I don't know what they can possibly find to eat because the fields are so brown and bare.

The vegetation turns greener, though, as you drive into the park. Canyonlands is also called "Island in the Sky." It's a high plateau sitting above the canyon floor, that was made by the Colorado and Green Rivers. You get a good view out onto all kinds of rock formations, cliffs and canyons. The weather wasn't as hot this day, but it was incredibly windy. At several spots we were getting sand blasted. We stopped at several look out points and hiked, not as much as the day before, but still got some in. At the Grand View Point Outlook, 6,080 feet elevation, we hiked 2 miles round trip. At Mesa Arch, a short 1/2 mile hike, we were surprised to find a beautiful arch at the end of that trail. I suggested we go to the other side to take pictures, because we were facing the sun. But as we got closer - whoa! The arch opened onto a sheer cliff drop off.Another place we stopped was at Whale Rock. We started up the trail and got almost to the top, but the wind was so fierce with no handrails on a somewhat hazardous trail, so we turned and headed back. We estimated that hike to be .8 mile since the entire one was 1 mile.It was a fabulous trip, but our adventures didn't end with visiting the parks. (We crossed 5 more off our list, with only 35 left to go!)

Our plane left from Las Vegas on Tuesday morning. We were going to use all day Monday for travel, then see if we could go visit the Hoover Dam which is only about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Well, the road from Green River, Utah to Las Vegas goes through several passes at pretty high elevations. Our whole week was sunny and nice, but Monday we woke up to rain. We packed up and started on our journey. We drove out of the rain and were enjoying the ride, when we started climbing up into the mountains and the clouds turned dark gray. Then it started to snow. The roads were very slippery and we were both quite scared. The scenery was beautiful but it was difficult to appreciate that beauty because of the danger of driving in such hazardous conditions. We finally drove out of the storm, relaxed and made good time, then drove into another storm. The snow was a little deeper on the road this time, and most of the time, we couldn't see the lines that marked the lanes. We saw several cars in the ditch by the side of the road, one of them even turned the wrong direction. But we finally drove out of that storm, too.We drove to Hoover Dam, made it after six hours of continuous driving. But then it started raining, with lightning and thunder and hail. So we didn't stay. We did see Lake Mead and the bridge over the dam, but didn't get out of the car. Maybe another time...

This has become quite a tome, and there is more to tell, but it will have to wait for another day. We took a little over 400 pictures. It was another winner of a vacation.

Another exciting week

As usual, we had lots to do this week. Andy started work on replacing the windows in our kitchen. We put them in when we first built the kitchen 19 years ago. They were leaking cold air in winter and weren't closing properly any more. So they were due to be replaced. A couple of months ago when we purchased the new stove, we decided to go ahead and get the stove that has a back to it. It was only a matter of time before we were going to be replacing the windows, so when we had the stove put in, Andy had to cut away part of the window frame.

On Tuesday, the work began. But he actually decided to start on the other window first since he thought he would run into more "issues" with it. He wanted to get his experience on the back window so he would know more what he was doing when he got to the front window.

He worked all day and got it in, but still needs to do the finishing work. What a difference the new window has made, though. The kitchen seems quieter and no more leaking!

Taking the old one out

constructing a new frame (because the new windows are a little smaller)

the new window - in!

While Andy was working away on the window project, I did my normal laundry and bathroom cleaning. I also got Dawn and Kira and we drove to Perennial Gardens to check out what they had for a couple of spots Dawn wanted to fill. She got an azalea and rhododendron bush. The rhodie she chose was so beautiful I just had to have one for myself, too. So the next day, after work, I took Andy's truck and went back. I bought a rhodie and a japonica bush for myself, and a flowering plum tree for Dawn. We were unable to get the tree the day before because we only had her car. Here are the new bushes I bought for my gardens.
I had to replace this japonica because last summer's drought killed the one that was here:

My pansies are looking delightful right now.

And so are the redbud trees.

On Tuesday, with Andy working on his window replacement, I decided to tackle the lawn mowing by myself. If we work on it together, it usually takes us an hour to get it done. But with me doing it all by myself, it took me 3 hours. It was a lovely day, not too hot, but the wind was whipping up the pollen, and I suffered the next several days with the sneezing and running nose. It's so beautiful this time of the year that I can't resist being outside even when I suffer for it.

Well, tomorrow we're off on another adventure. But more about that later.

Computer Virus, 28 Hours with Grace & Easter

Well, not only have Andy and I recently fought off colds and viruses, we just had to doctor our computer for several viruses it had. Poor baby! Saturday night, I was on it, and all of a sudden it locked up and started blinking at me that there were viruses - I think about 11 of them. So we turned the computer off and unplugged the phone line to it. And we stayed off all day yesterday. It was like fasting! A friend from church came over today and cleaned it up and we are again virus-free.
Last Saturday, April 16th was a busy day. I had a Coffee Connection in the morning at the church. I made a casserole of baked oatmeal and a fruit salad to share. It was a pleasant morning visiting with other women and catching up on what's been happening in each other's lives.

I was home about 1/2 hour from the Coffee Connection, when I returned to the church to attend a baby shower for another friend. Andy and I had been involved with this young couple in mentoring them before their marriage so it is fun to watch them becoming parents to a new little one joining their family.

On Tuesday night, Dawn and I went to another friend's house to join a few other young women to learn about making green smoothies, growing sprouts and making kiefer. It was an interesting and informative evening and I was inspired to try some of the ideas that were given. The rest of the week, I used my afternoons after work to do errands to provide some of the equipment I will need to put these ideas into practice. Some time ago, my blender had broken, so I bought a new one in order to make the green smoothies. I also bought a sprout tray with seeds and started the seeds. They are already sprouting and I'm excited to put them on our salad in another day or so. I will be sure to post recipes of the green smoothies as I make them. I haven't made any yet because I also ordered 2 books with recipes which haven't arrived yet. Amazon says they've been shipped, so maybe tomorrow...

I had off work on Friday because of Good Friday. So I drove up to C & C's to get Grace and brought her back to our house to spend an overnight with Grammy and Poppop. She had a list of things she wanted to do with us and we were able to accomplish everything! One of the things she especially likes to do is play free cell on the computer with Andy. Here they are playing together:
Dawn & Kira joined us for lunch. You don't have to tell Kira to say cheese when she sees the camera. I think it's an automatic reflex to pose whenever she sees the camera pointing at her.
I asked Grace what she wanted me to make her for her special dinner, and her answer was bacon quiche. It turned out quite good. Of course, we had to have ice cream for dessert!All too soon, our time with Grace came to an end and it was time for her to go back home. She is such fun to have. She is a good sport with Andy's teasing and is good at teasing him back.We did not see any of our kids on Easter except Dawn, whom we saw at church. Amy and Christy spent the day with their in-laws. But Andy and I went out to eat with his Mom and Dad, his 2 brothers and their families. That was a nice, pleasant time with good food, and we didn't have to cook or clean up.

The Easter sermon was a wonderful reminder of what we enjoy because of the resurrection. Pastor's text was 1 Corinthians 15:58. [So because death has no sting or victory], stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Three statements Pastor said about the resurrection that I wrote down:
1. The resurrection is the declaration that the cross worked!
2. The resurrection is the receipt that the debt has been paid!
3. The resurrection guarantees that a new era has begun - a picture of what is coming (Romans 6:4: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.)Another statement that really got me thinking is that there's a difference between death and dying. For instance, as Christians we know death is not to be feared. In fact, we even look forward to one day being with the Lord and not having to deal with this life any more. But the process of dying is another story. Who of us really looks forward to dying; dealing with cancer or some other disease or accident? Jesus faced the same thing. He knew he was going to die and rise again, but the process of the dying was an ordeal he struggled with, even sweating drops of blood in great agony because he knew how much he would suffer. Praise God, he endured and did not quit or give up, but the debt is paid in full!

The flowers are blooming, the grass is greening, it must be SPRING!!

Christian had some tree work to do close by, so I suggested Christy and the kids come down with him and hang out at our house all day. Then I also invited Amy and Dawn to join us for afternoon socializing and dinner together last Saturday. So it was a fun day. The weather was cool and sunny which contributed to lots of play time outside.The dinner was delicious. I marinated salmon and chicken which Andy grilled. I also made a batch of rolls - 2 dozen - all of which were completely devoured with requests for more. Chrisy made a taboulleh salad, Amy made green bean wraps (wrapped in bacon!) and Dawn made an apple cake with cream cheese frosting. Everything tasted so good.

Sunday was a busy day, too. Around mid-morning, Dawn called me to ask if I could pick her up. She had gone to a grocery store to buy pizzas to feed her children's choir who were rehearsing in the afternoon. However, when she got back out to her car, she couldn't get it started. So I drove over, we put Kira in my car and I drove her to church, while Dawn waited for the tow truck to take her away.

I did manage to attend the 11:00 service, then home for a quick lunch, then back to church to attend a baby shower. I had to leave that before all the presents were unwrapped because we were hosting a singles Bible study at our house at 5:30 and I needed to get the refreshments ready and coffee made.

Monday was a work day...then Tuesday. I was kind of tired and moving in slow motion. Dawn came over with Kira who stayed with me while Dawn and Andy went to Home Depot to pick up windows for Dawn & Tommy's house. Having Kira here is a real ego booster. She loves to be here and almost always cries when it's time to go. She loves me to hold her and is very eager to give hugs. It is getting harder to pick her up, though, because she currently weighs 26 pounds.

Also on Tuesday, Amy called and told me she really wanted me to come up on Thursday and go with her to the Lancaster Flower Show. I didn't know if I could get off work, but the more I thought about it, I decided I would go for it. It was a beautiful day today and I'm so glad I did something fun with Amy and her kids. The flower show was small, but nice. We probably wandered around the show for over an hour, then enjoyed the outdoors while the kids played on the swing set that was set up outside.I bought a really nice garden ornament for a hanging basket. I couldn't resist taking pictures of the trees that are flowering, even though I already have these same pictures (from last year). The sky was so blue today which makes the colors of the flowers so much more distinctive.I love this magnolia tree. It was barely as tall as me when we planted it, now it's taller than the house. And when it blooms, it outdoes itself!

Fearful and Wonderful

It seems like Andy and I have lately been consumed with the physical, spending a lot of time, attention and money on these perishable bodies. I am still dealing with the after effects of my bout with poison ivy. The prednasone and antibiotic helped, but several weeks ago I developed numbness in the ends of my 2 fingers (pointer & tall man) on my right hand. They are also discolored and look purplish like they are bruised. In my research on poison ivy, I've discovered that the reaction can include numbness. I'm never quite sure about calling the doctor. If I call, am I being a hypocondiac? If I don't call, will it get worse until it's harder to treat? So I called and made an appointment. My appointment was this morning and the doctor was fascinated by my condition, but didn't seem to offer any suggestions on how to improve my situation. He ordered lab work done and said to let him know if I haven't improved in a week.

On the other hand, my back has been feeling better. So was that as a result of the back exercises I'm doing? Or did the prednasone help? Or was it the hyaluronic acid with chondroitin sulfate that Christy told me to start taking? Or maybe all things combined are giving me relief. Whatever - I'm grateful.

When I first came down with the poison ivy reaction, Andy developed a severe cold, with lots of congestion and coughing. He finally had to go to the doctor because it just wasn't going away. It seemed to last longer than most colds do. Then because prednasone suppresses the immune system, I was vulnerable and caught the cold, too. It was a doozy! I'm finally feeling better from that, but still coughing now and then.

This past weekend, Andy woke up in the middle of Friday night throwing up and that lasted till morning. He was pretty weak and spent the day cloistered in the bedroom. On Sunday morning, he was still feeling nauseous and because he hadn't eaten in a while, felt he needed to go the Emergency Room to get some medical help. It's a good thing he did, because there were several things going on. They first told him there was internal bleeding, although not sure where that was coming from or what they meant by that. A CT scan was done, as well as a few other tests. He was given some fluids, and anti-nausea medication as well. Fortunately, he didn't have to be admitted, but the diagnosis was a urinary tract infection. There were probably some other things going on including: after effects from the colonoscopy he had on Wednesday and possibly a stomach virus, too. Poor guy!

All these physical issues reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:4: For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

In spite of not feeling so well, we still had things going on. Two weekends ago, on March 25-27, I went to Lancaster County for our church's women's retreat. The speaker was excellent and we had a good time, but it really wasn't the best time for me to be away. My cold was at its worst right then and I was still itching from the poison ivy, making it hard to sleep. I really needed more sleep than usual that weekend, but didn't get it. We got a lot of free time on Saturday afternoon, so after lunch, I drove over to see Amy, Ricky and kids. I held Katy most of the time I was there and enjoyed seeing everyone and visiting with them.

On April 1, Christy and Christian were scheduled to go to a George Winston concert, leaving all 4 kids with us overnight and into Saturday. I told Dawn she could bring Kira over on Saturday morning because she loves being with all the kids. I left work early on Friday afternoon, the kids arrived around 2:45. We were able to play a little, then when Andy got home from work, I made barbeque chicken pizza and Caesar's salad for dinner. Everyone was happy with that meal and ate well. After dinner we watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie, then had some ice cream, then watched another episode of Little House, before getting ready for bed. Bed time was a lot of fun. We fixed up the room upstairs for the kids.

Grace & Aiden slept on the queen size futon and Naomi and Asher slept in sleeping bags on the floor. I read some Uncle Remus stories to the kids to get them in the sleepy mode (which didn't really work because they kept asking for one more story...). Then Andy took over and started making up stories but was so silly, the kids were giggling and laughing so hard - forget the sleepy mode!
I slept upstairs in the other room so that I could be near the kids. When I came downstairs in the morning, I discovered Andy had been up nearly all night throwing up. That was disappointing for him, as well as the kids. The first thing they asked when they got up was, "Where's Poppop?" How sad that they couldn't even see him, let alone play and wrestle with him.

I fixed blueberry pancakes for breakfast with Grace's help. She is a joy to have around. I would have been happy to do everything myself, but she just anticipated what I needed and jumped right in to help. She set the table without my telling her to, she helped mix up the batter, and she also turned the pancakes on the grill.

Kira arrived around 8:30 and then I didn't see much of the kids anymore. They played outside quite a bit. The weather was cool but quite nice.Then Christian and Christy came - a lot earlier than expected. We had originally said they would be back after lunch, but Christian hurt his knee on Friday night and was in a good deal of pain. So they thought they should get him home so he could visit the ER. When they got here, the kids were playing so well, we took some time to visit and just relax together.

But I still got to have Kira until about 12:00 noon. We filled up the bird feeders, took a letter to the mailbox and read some books together.

So it's been pretty eventful recently. Never a dull moment!

I've been amazed at the way our bodies are made. Even though we suffer at times and life can seem fragile, we are pretty resilient, too. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. His works are wonderful, I know that full well! (Psalm 139:14)

Relationships & Politics

Most of what I blog about is time spent with family. I don't seem to be much interested in hobbies or projects, other than a little gardening perhaps. I do a crochet or sewing project here and there or find new recipes, but for the most part, I'm spending time with family, or at least, plotting how we can get together.

Last Saturday, I babysat Kira while Dawn and Tommy went to a family party. I got to their house around 1:00 pm and Kira was already in bed. She wasn't sleeping, but was "talking" and playing in her crib. But she soon went to sleep and didn't wake up till 4:00. So that whole time, I sat in the house reading a book I had brought with me. Of course, when she woke up, I was happy to hold her and cuddle with her. She was very happy to see me which was satisfying for me - she's so expressive. I didn't get to stay very long after she woke up, because when Dawn & Tommy got home, I needed to leave almost right away.

Andy and I then rode over to Christy & Christian's church to watch their whole family (except Asher) in a musical play. It was really fun and brought back many memories of when our own children were young and participating in church plays, as well as their own productions at home. Grace, Aiden & Naomi were in the children's choir. Grace had a solo and did very well - what a pretty voice she has - I was very proud of her continuing the family musical tradition! Christy also had a solo. She played the part of Sweetie, a helpless female (not typecast!). It was very entertaining.We got to meet some of their friends, and after the "show," Andy and I took them all out for ice cream. We ended up at "Basket of Robbers" because it was still so early in the season and the only ice cream place that was open.
One thing that has never interested me is politics. I think I stay away from it because it could be very depressing with the way our country is going. It seems to me like politics is just a game people play for their own ends, not really for the good of the country.

So last night I was pleasantly surprised. Andy and I attended a dinner put on by a local crisis pregnancy center. The main speaker was Rick Santorum. I really didn't know anything about him before, but he is definitely, undeniably pro-life, pro-family, has 7 children and even homeschools those children. Wow! I didn't know there were politicians with such attributes. He was a great speaker and after listening to him, I'm encouraged to believe that God always has his remnant. An interesting tidbit that Mr. Santorum shared in his speech is how he began attending a Bible study after he moved to Washington D.C. taught by Lloyd Ogilvie and that was where he really started to grow spiritually. Isn't God creative and ingenious in how he speaks to people! There is a God - and He reigns!

What Jesus HAD to do

Last Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper at church and I've been pondering the message all week. Pastor preached from Matthew 16:21 where Jesus said he MUST do 3 things; they were non-negotiables: 1. suffer; 2. be killed and 3. rise again. I don't know that I ever thought about the suffering part before in the way Pastor presented it. I knew he had to die and rise again, but why suffer - and so horribly?

Jesus' sufferings served a purpose:
1. They were the ultimate test of his obedience. In our sufferings, we usually ask: "How can I get out of this?" Or, "How long will this go on?" But Jesus stayed the course, He chose to obey. He knew how bad it would be and did not back down, whine, beg for a way out or give up. He really could have called 10,000 angels, but he chose not to.

2. They perfected him in obedience. He fulfilled all righteousness.

His obedience qualified him to be the perfect sacrifice and substitute for me. Because not only were my sins laid to his account, but now his righteousness is also laid to my account. The 2 sides of the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God provided a complete remedy for my complete ruin.